According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Tim Tebow is “actively pursuing a career in professional baseball” and plans to hold a workout for MLB teams later this month. That according to Tebow’s agents. UPDATE: they are very serious about this.
Agents, it seems, who are too afraid of their meal ticket to tell him “no” and too irresponsible to tell him that he’s going to make a fool out of himself. Because there is zero chance whatsoever that Tebow, a 29-year-old who hasn’t played competitive baseball since he was a junior in high school, could play affiliated baseball as anything other than a publicity stunt.
Tebow was actually a pretty good baseball player in high school and there is a story that goes around about how was “almost drafted by the Angels” or some such thing. Baseball, however, has dozens of rounds in its draft and it’s not uncommon for a club to draft a multi-sport star on the off chance he gives up his chosen sport. Such a thing is not, however, a sign that a guy is going to be a good baseball player and it certainly means nothing 10-12 years after he last picked up a bat. Most actual major league superstars can’t play baseball effectively again after a layoff of 1-2 years due to the rust and such. But Tebow is gonna do it? Sure he is.
If this is some sort of reality show gambit, secret research for some investigative report he’s doing for ESPN or if the end game is to play two games for the Bridgeport Bluefish to give his athletic career “closure” of some kind, hey, knock yourself out, Timmy. If he seriously thinks he has a shot to be a legitimate professional baseball player, he’s dreaming.
There is a silver lining, though: this news is already causing hardcore football fans to opine that, even though Tebow couldn’t make it in the NFL, he’d be OK at baseball because baseball is somehow easier or whatever. That’s fun in its own right, but it’s also fun because it allows us to watch this again: